Only 10 layouts regularised in a year in Aurangabad

AURANGABAD: BJP corporator Nitin Chitte on Monday told the standing committee that the civic body's town planning department could regularise only 10 layouts in a year, even as the city has been growing leaps and bound. He said the number is too short as compared to ground realities.

"More than 100 layouts come up every year in the city. In Nakshatrawadi alone, about 30-40 new layouts have mushroomed in the last one-and-a-half years. Similar residential colonies are shaping up on different layouts in Beed bypass, Harsul, Padegaon, Mitimita, Jalgaon Road and Jalna road. However, the municipal body has approved only 10 layouts in the last one year," he said.

"As per the figures available with the town planning department, the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) had received 17 proposals of different layouts but the authorities approved only 10. I wonder how the civic body can receive only 17 proposals when 125-150 layouts are adding up every year," he said.

Chitte also highlighted the huge disparity between the number of building permissions issued by the municipal body and the households being built. The civic body issued 1,179 building permissions in the last financial year. But Chitte said 5,000-6,000 households are under construction in 115 municipal wards in the city.

"The AMC's record and the ground reality show that the authorities are neglecting new properties, thereby causing huge financial loss to the civic body," he said.

The BJP corporator estimated losses to the tune of Rs 150 crore per annum because of the alleged negligence by the town planning department, which is supposed to approve layouts and bring them under the tax net.

At present, the total number of properties within the municipal limits is 1.91 lakh, of which 20,000 fall under the commercial category, while 1.71 lakh are residential properties. But many corporators and municipal authorities believe that more than 50,000 properties are yet to be identified. Additional municipal commissioner Ramesh Pawar assured the committee members that steps will be initiated to reach out to the untapped properties.

"We may even involve private players in the process of identifying properties," he said.